Branding machine



Dec. 26, 1933. s. B. NEFF ETiAL BRANDING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 14, 1950 5. NEFF, J4. A /EFE .Patented Dec. 26, 1933 BRADINGMCHNE Stanley B. Neff, Sandy, and-'william A. Nera. Riverton, Utah@ w. A. "y A Refilelfor'V allandoned applicationlfserial` o.f y 488,632, October 14, 1930. `This @application March Y6, 19,33."f Ser ial`No;659,818 'Y u j .This invention relates (to, a branding miao-hifi@A and more particularly,` fa brandingx machine for.

fragile articles havingsubstantially spherical,

elliptical or other surfaces, such `as eggs; though` Anot necessarily limited thereto, f

'Ihe principal objects `of .the invention aref ff.

=First. To be operative to imprint eggs or otherv fragile articles positively, yet with an impactffso,

light that no mechanicaliinjury results.kv c i `Second.V To be rapid in action.V ,l Third. To be simple, durable and construction.

protection of Letters Patent of the United, States is desired, are collectively groupedin theclaims concluding this specification.

In thedrawing, which illustrates-onelenibodify ment of the,A present invention, n

Fig. l represents a horizontal` sectiontalien-on line 1-1, Fig. 2, showing the the mechanism in plan:

operating parts of Fig. 2, a vertical section taken",substantially on the `line* 2-2 `in Fig. 1, 'parts in, the" background being omitted; c f

Fig. 3, a section ysimilar `to lFig-f2,fshovving t `en operating `parts in an alternateposition; l

Fig. 4, a section takenuon line Fig. 1,-

reected from amirrorplane; e i i Fig. 5, a Avertical section. taken online `15a- 5,

Fig. 1, reflected from amirrorplane;,.` Fig. 6, an elevation ofthe branding, element viewed from the line4 6-1-6 Ain Fig, and-` drawn-to` an enlargedscale;.and 1 l Y.

Fig. 7, anl electrical diagram-f Referring to the drawingnnumeral lcfindicates.

a casing or `housing preferably` madcf'of, .sheet metal, and extending upwardly from a base`12,

to any convenient height. The basemaysfbe made of asslat of electrically non-conductive material;` such as Vvvood orslate, and have mountedupon it a standard 13A in Awhich' maybefpivotally sup-V ported atli, a branding Vmember 15. The brandfl` ing` member may be in the formofaswinging lever having preferably a longk arm 15-1 and; a short arm v15---2. M

Flexibly connected to example, by means of a pivotedhlinkl, is abar fastened in a core 18. Y Thiscore, in conjunction with a coil 19,` forms a` solenoidoperative whenl is deenergizced, to return the core to substantially compact in,

the "short Aarm 15442,;foi

. of insulating material,.ivhicha1so supports coil 19.2,

The arm 15-7-c-1 of thebranding member* may Carryan, imprinting i element, Whih' may consist, l04 of a rubber printing strip or stamp A30, capableV 0f acommodatinefthe varyihscurvatures ef` @sesj 15-v-1, overlaps theprintingface. The features of thisinvention, for which the The inking member may consist lof a pad carried yon an arm pivoted at 36 on the iframe) 24.Vv and inclinedto the p ath of core 18,.so that in r conjunction with anactuator, which: may con-j sist of a stalT 37 secured in bar 17, a camaction isl obtained which serves toliftthe inking pad out ofl the way o f the stamp as4 the-.latter `is ris. inglto'ithebranding position, shown in ,-Fig .3, 75 due to the 4forward movement ofthe core. As the corer is returning to its normaler retracted position, gravity xacts to bring' thednliing pad back to its bearing against theface vof theA rubberstamp. A, stop `or rest39 maybe provided4 for 80m- ,V

thefdisappearing branding member 15V incits retracted position, indicated in Fig.r2.1t will .be

y .noted that in theforward movement of the core, l

link'. l'st illates around, Pivt. l-.LSQ es to allow a small interval of time V:for the inking185.,` member to'be raised in advance of the branding w V hva-,terminal 28, closes; an electrical circuit, for

a purposepresently .to be explained...

An aperture. 40 may be convenien the ca sir1g the casing being preferably arrelative- 1y. stationary structure with regard to, thejbrand-95" ingv `rriechanislrl proper, vWhile a switch 4 1 'having f a finger Llei-vis Y.operativelycontiguous to the aperture, tliengerA being slidably vmounted in a bracket 42 securedl to the casing.`

erably made of insulatingmaterial, and pivoted to thebase v12at 45.-. Theu armer-2 may `carry a. contact member 41-4;, f,0rr1n;s part `of themam circuit. .Armel-2 may-benormallyheld in the 105 openposition ofthe switch'by meansof .a tension.

spring 48. Y w, .r A feature `of this invention `is the provisionA of a-positioner and stopgwhereby: thatv portion" oft an .eee ojotherrounded bedr presented, to the .face of the printing stamp, is `brought into the proper position, and into alignment therewith. Obviously, unless there is proper alignment, an

Y imperfect impression will result. wThe vrequired 5 condition then, is that a normal drawnto the curved face of thebody, shall also 4be `substan-1 tially normal tothe/printing face. In the pres-4 ent instance, this requirement is met by that portion of the casing which defines the aperture 40. It will be clear however, that any constructionwhich provides at least three points of bearing for the rounded body, in a plane contiguous to the portion of its curved suriacetobe impressed, and at the same time causes this portion topro- 15 trude beyond the bearing plane towards the printing face, will fulfill the requiredcondition; At 53, a circuit breaker maybe providedjin the form of an electromagnet 5B-d "acting 'upon an armature 53-2, which carries a contactng'er 53-3 adapted to contact a spring member 54, The latter may be- `s`o constructed fand positioned that' 'when the 'circuit'- is closecl at 54`l by the fingerSJ-B-thenthe contact at 54-'2`with ter'- h minalr56will'bebrokem-thereby closing and open- When the m 60 aand outgoing lead Gli-is closed, current iiowsVv 467i' through lconductor 162, c oil'lg;v 'conductor-'"'GSQ-terminal`56V and finger '54. -`-This--eergizes'-coi1j19 and`fcaus`es`- Aco' 1 *e`-' `518'with Lbar `17 `to be-pulled in" thedirec tic'1`n of the arrow, thereby 'raising the inking padV and flipping the branding stamp" up 45' against'the egg, .the-latter being indicated ythe initial positionlin dotted lineslfFig'; g V"andf-in" theffnal posities; in.,deifdlnesl Fig! '3f Afterthe stamp has impressed the egg, itj is autof mafically retracted-in fthe 4I riafiiner*"described siii-below ,l p When the core reaches-the end-ofits stroke, the insulating pad 2 6 strikes the spring 27 and-'causes' 555 circuit, the 'currenty travels'ffriii'- `teriinalf4l4j through conductor* g coil 534-1;` conductor 67,

contact 27, terminal 2 8-, conductors 6 8 and- 63, terminal 56,- finger 54, andfput 'throughw'ire- 61. Energizing this circuit energizes coil'53-1-,9and

o() "draws armature 534-2 against itspole piece :5B-'#4,-

thereby causing contact-'"-m'emleei 53-123-to'ftouch ing 'the'flrst circuit `a t- 54 142 1 This deenergiz'es coil 19 and permits'spring-ZO-to-come -into"action 35k -to return the cord-branding" farmj and inki'ng- 'pad to their 'normalpositions --This action,- at the' same' time,V changes' the flow -of the-currentfrom the" coil-"5341 throughconductor 67,1"czon'tac'tf27,-V and-soon, Vso that the-current'will1now-flow from "Coil j53-1 wiil-irem'ain tlius' energized as vlong as the-egg is thepositioner Keeping-contacts 25 ing different circuits,- as'v -will'beexplainedf here-r incandescent-lamp V5a, cnne'ctedfinany-wen' 4;-1-,1 fingerI 54;? and) outb through restores-contact at 54-2, leaving coil 19` ready forA another cycle'l of operation when the next egg is placed the positionen The term positioner, as used in the present inf'st'ance, applies to the casing wall in which aper- V tureV 40k isdened. Broadly, this term could mean'any'element against which an'egg or other A`object may be heldmanua1ly,'to bring it into a rdenite position for registry with the branding member in its imprinting contact with an egg.

The positioner also'guidesthe egg into the proper Contact vwithithej"operating switch 41. The

fbrandingmember may be referred to as an A.-mprinter. f

'I'he electric lamp, out of which the candling beam -oflight' proceeds-may be connected in par? allel with the-electrically -actuated brandingmechanism, as indicated in diagram -inf- Fig. 7, or

it may beconnect'ed in seriesi -tl'ierewitliv (not shown). The general operating results inboth cases, are substantially equal, though the -cooperative relationship is more-intimate in the latter-case.

It will be seen that there are three'intercon'- nected circuits, as-'followsz (a). one-for energizing the solenoid; (b) 4one for energizing the circuit breaker; (c) one for keeping the circuit breaker' closed-until-the egg is takenout of the-positioner.

By keeping the' circuit breakerr closed during the time `'period that 'the egg keeps the operating switch closed, burning-out ofthe solenoid coil is prevented, andi-'fincase of* a series hook-up, the

candling lamp is kept energized-'during'fthis time period, insteadmr'nentaily.V

For properly timing th 17, it'isV-desiiable-'that vswitcharm-412 shall close the circuit-until the object to bef-marked, is almost seated -in aperture`40.

l ber can be usediseparate from the candling light, it is to be noted that-their-use in conjunction with the flatter as`-herein'-descri-bed, is especially advantageousand f accomplishes a new result,-

'- becauseqonel-iaiidling' of-l eggs-by: the operator, Aboth vcandlesand` marks "the" eggs; thus saving quired in performing 'thesetwof-necessary items -in preparing eggs for theima-rket( f *-Tofthis conjunctive-end, the-:printing member 17 is lmade disappearing-:in character, 'that isf-to s'ayffit remains'iin contactwith an eggin front fofthe light for :only a-ivery small period oftime,

Y theY egg and 'the-flight absolutely clear, since no opaque' objectmust 'intervene duringY candling.

e- 'actionofprinting arm4 and-then-` jdisappears; leavingthe 'space betweeniid While the-branding mechanism and-stop mem` las approximately one half the-'time heretofore -re ies We-do notclaim' the light` as aj part .of `our.

invention,'but'we do claim abranding'fmechanism especially adapted for use in connectionjwitha actuated byfcontacti l'of an article to 'be stamped;` 1. also,-of"`-the U. Si patent LtoI Willa'rlf-Numberf 1`,236,801,""whch'f'shows l5a cuppedfcushion; for oranges las-partera handLopera-ted stamp.

ilo

i 'I'herefore, we-do not -claiman electrically oper-'j broadly, but restrict our inventionv to operating mechanism and stop members of the types herein disclosed.

It is to be noted however, that the elongated slot 31 in Willards patent, does not provide a bearing having at leastthree points lying in a plane intersecting a spherical objectnr other object of revolution, as in our device, since suchV an object, in Willard, would touch only `two points opposite each other along the long sides of the slot, and such two-point contact would allow the object tobe lrolled lengthwise of the slot indefinitely, hence causing an imperfect impression. i i

This application is a substitute for, and `continuation in part, of an application filed by us on October 14, 1930, Serial Number 488,632.

While a specic embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it is to be clearly understood that variations Within the scope of the accompanying claims, may be resorted to without jeopardizing our patent protection. a

Having fully described our invention, what we claim is:

l. A branding machine for objects, such as eggs and the like, including in combination, an object stop having at least three points lying in a plane, said plane intersecting the object .so that a portion of said object protrudes beyond said plane, a printing stamp disposed to impress the protruding portion of the object on the opposite side from that Where the object is brought against said stop, and mechanism dis-l posed to be contacted by the protruding portion of said object whereby the branding mechanism is caused to imprint said protruding portion.

2. A bianding`machine for `objects such as eggs and the like, including in combination, a stop lying substantially in a plane, intersecting the object, a pivoted branding member having a t printing face disposed to be swung into contact electric switch disposed for contact by said protruding portion of the object; said switch being in the circuit with said solenoid.

3. A'branding machine for eggs and the like,

said machine beingl designed for use Vinccnjunction ywith a candling light, including in combination, an egg positioner in front of said light, and

a disappearing printing member disposed for operation. between the egg light.

4.' AV branding machine, including in combina.- tion, a structure having a stop for spherical'jor like objects, said `stop lying substantially in a plane and disposed to allow a portion of the object when engaged by the stop to protrudev and the candling` beyond said plane, an electric switch disposed electrically operatedprinting mechanism having a disappearing printing arm for impressing said protruding, portion, said printing mechanism being in circuit with said switch.

5. A branding machine, including in combina- Vfor contact by the protruding portion, andan 1 tion, a swinging lever having a printing face norf mally retracted, an arm having 'an inking pad overlapping the retractedprinting face, and a solenoid having av core for actuating the inking arm and the printing lever inoperative sequence, relatively to each other.

6. A branding machine, including in combination, a branding member having a printing posiinking member during the operating cycle of the brandingv member.

'7. A branding machine, including in combina-` tion, a switch positioned so as to be operatively contacted by an object such as an egg, a branding member having a branding position in operative proximity to said switch, a solenoid having a core connected tosaid branding member, an inking member positioned to contact said branding member, and an actuator positioned to impart motionv to said inking member; said actuator being mounted on the core structure of the solenoid, and the solenoid being in circuit with said switch.

' STANLEY B. NEFF.` WILLIAM A.` NEFF. 

